Eh, Cumpari!

Boppity Boopity?! The Adventures of a Broad, Abroad.

[ehcumpari]

All good things must come to an end...

These past four months have been the most unreal, amazing, funny, happy, inspiring, breath taking, exciting and unforgettable months of my life. Being here is something I could never sum up or explain to anyone in words, it's the best experience I could have asked for and no explanation could do it justice. I have never met more awesome people in my life who I have to leave behind, I've never had such awesome teachers who actually cry at the thought of seeing their students leave. I've never been able to wander around a city and call some foreign country my home for four months. It's something you take for granted when you're in a place like this and you can never even picture leaving until you actually have to, and then the time comes, and then it ends. I have been so lucky to be able to do this, I have seen more places in the past four months than I probably would have in my whole entire life. I wouldn't change a thing about this semester, everything was perfect. Our apartment, our neighborhood, the city, the people, the classes, the casual weekend trips to other countries, pizza and paninis twice a week, nutella at my disposal every second, the beautiful bridge I walked over everyday. There's not one negative experience I can think of, and I am so greatful to be able to say that I had the time of my life in a home away from home for four months. I'll miss everything about my time here and I can't believe something. It's hard to believe that things like this have to end and that I will be going home to New York and probably not coming back to Florence for a good amount of time. Leaving here gives me the worst feeling in my stomach and the saddest thoughts through my head, it makes me so upset and frustrated to realize that this is over. However, I am excited to go home and continue on with my real life with my family, my boyfriend, my friends and my dogs because those are the most important things in my life and being without them for four months is long enough. Florence will always be here, and I'll be back, I'll make sure of it. So bring it on America, you got some big shoes to fill.

[ehcumpari]

split, croatia

For our last adventure, we went to Split, Croatia which was LITERALLY paradise. It was the most beautiful place I have seen, with the bluest water ever. When we got off the 12 hour excruciating bus ride, we walked to the hostel that was right by the water which was surrounded by white benches and palm trees, definitely a sight for sore eyes. It was amazing, I can’t believe people actually live there. We arrived at 9am on friday and at 11am went white water rafting which was awesome. Our instructor was hilarious and taught us everything we needed to know about white water rafting on intense rapids….just kidding it wasn’t intense at all. However, we did have our fair share of drops down waterfalls. We rafted for about 3 hours through the most amazing route on the water, and at the end of the rafting we got to jump off a cliff into the water, which was FREEZING even with a full body wet suit on. Probably the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done.

That night we went on an awesome pub crawl that always happens in the town, and it’s run by this crazy guy. Along with our group, a bachelor party was with us also, from england, who were crazy. It was the best time ever, everyone was happy, the bars were great and the atmosphere was perfect. The next day we went to the beach near the hostel which was beautiful, had ice blue water and it was the perfect day to FINALLY lay in the sun. We ended up running into the guys from the bachelor party the night before on the beach, and one of them was dared to wear a crash helmet the entire day. Probably not the best idea in the sun…That night we went to another town near Split called Trogir to get dinner, it was a cool medieval town.

On our last day, we stopped at a waterfall park on the way home which was AMAZING. It’s called Krka national park and it’s basically a huge forest with paths and along the way are waterfalls that just keep getting bigger and bigger in size. It was one of the prettiest places I have ever seen. At the end of the path, there’s an ENORMOUS waterfall that we were able to go swimming in, definitely one of the best parts of the trip. Despite the fact that I definitely got sick from body shock and the freezing cold water, it was totally worth it. Croatia is hands down one of the most awesome places I have been to, I had the time of my life and I couldn’t have asked for a better pace to visit

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Last week was labor day for the Italianos, so they had a celebration called Notte Bianca which was fine by me because I had off from school the next day. Basically, it’s an all night party for Florence, people stay out all night and all of the Piazzas in Florence has something else going on whether it’s a band or a DJ. It was cool because almost all of Florence was out but it was SO crowded. There were flash mobs planned around the city with people dressed like LMFAO which was funny. Also it was good because our friend Kelly visited after her semester ended in Madrid. It was awesome to see her and she got to experience this ridiculous night in Florence which was cool

[ehcumpari]

Yesterday I turned VENTUNOOO! Or 21 for all you english speakers. Last week I entered a photo contest with one of the student travel agencies and I ended up winning which was awesome! The prize was a dinner worth 250 euros which included bistecca fiorentina. These steaks are about 1 kilo each and cost about 50 euros, meaning I would have never bought it on my own haha. I got to take people with me so we all got to have the most amazing meal I ever had, not too bad for a birthday dinner. We got this huge platter of meats and bruscetta, steak and potatoes for dinner and a choice of dessert. I'm still full from it but it was the greatest meal I had in Italy which is definitely a good way to end the semester

[ehcumpari]

Fiorentina soccer fail...

I’m writing about this because it’s funny, and sort of pathetic, however it was not funny at the time…last week we wanted to go to a soccer game because it would have been our last chance. So at the attempt to be super fans, Nicole and I bought shirts, got all ready for the game, walked 45 minutes to the stadium to buy tickets and then our hopes got crushed…We probably walked around the area for an hour trying to find people selling tickets because we were told we could get them at the stadium. But nope, the lines were “closed” to buy tickets…which resorted us to devising horrible plans to get us into the game which ultimately failed. We begged the guards to let us in, asked people on the streets, bribed some workers, bribed some cops, no one budged. Italians are ruthless. We ended up listening to the game through the fence, at least we can say we heard it i guess. In the end it was funny because we couldn't believe how desperate we got hahaha

[ehcumpari]

Our last trip that was included with our school was to Lake Como in Italy and St, Moritz in Switzerland. Como Lake is an amazing lake, it's huge, the water is ice blue and it's such a cute town. Everyone gets around by boat and it just looks like a fairytale land, not to mention GEORGE CLOONEY HAS A HOUSE THERE. We saw his house but no sight of George, sad. But we got to see the town for a little which was awesome and then after we took a ferry over to Bellagio which was another amazing town on the water. If you look passed the water you can see the alps which were all capped with snow which was breathtaking. It was weird being warm on one side of the water and all the way on the other there was snow haha. After bellagio we went to St. Moritz in Switzerland which is known for all of its amazing hotels....we didn't stay at one of them...but it's a very elegant town and was pretty cold compared to sunny lake como. However, Switzerland still remains one of the coolest countries in my book. It was my second time there being abroad and I just love that you are literally surrounded by MAMMOTH SIZED MOUNTAINS all around you, it's like you can't escape it. It's amazing and I would recommend that everyone go.

[ehcumpari]

Cinque Terre is an amazing place, essentially it is just 5 beach towns along the ocean and they have tons of colorful houses. The towns are Monterosso, Riomaggiore, Corniglia, Vernazza which unfortulately flooded :(, and Manarola You can get there by taking the train to each town or you can hike through them. I really have nothing to say about it besides it was breathtaking so I figure pictures will just do the trick anyway...but it was beautiful, amazing, awesome, colorful, nothing like i've ever seen before

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So a week before Easter my mom and aunt patti came to visit! It was SO SO great to see them. They came just at the perfect time because it was when I was missing home, also Florence was getting a BUTT LOAD OF RAIN, which also made me pretty bummed. So I met them in Rome and we went sight seeing to the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and al that stuff. I went to Rome in tenth grade so going back when I was older was definitely different and I appreciated more of the sights I saw. Our tour guide for the Vatican was the bomb, he was hysterical, friendly, fun, just what you need for a tour that could potentially be boring. It was super interesting and I learned a lot that I didn't even know when I went on the tour the first time. After about 400 rosaries purchased by my mom...(hope you all liked them... hahah) they headed to Venice for two days and then came to me in FLORENCE :) I think it's safe to say that Florence was their favorite? And if it wasn't I am saying that it was...I took them to a bunch of places that I usually go to like the Oil Shop which has the best paninis and I think my mom would have sold her soul for the one she had. I made sure they had some good Italian food and none of the tourist crap and I think they loved everything they ate. We were able to take a bus tour one of the days which gives you a sight seeing tour on the top of a bus around Florence and it tells you all about the city. We also did something similar in Rome. One of the stops on the bus was Piazza Michelangelo and Fiesole which are just two awesome spots that let you see the ENTIRE city. It's an awesome view and it was a cool way for them to see the city. We also went on another tour that took us to Siena, Pisa and San Gimignano. I'm glad we got to go to those cities because they're other cities in Tuscany that I didn't even get to see yet. Besides there being nothing else in Pisa besides the tower, it was still a cool city. It was fun to try to get the touristy knocking down Pisa pictures. I never in my life thought that I would see Pisa haha. Siena was also cool but we didn't get to see much of the city, and I wish we could have seen more. But, San Gimignano was perfect. It was the definition of Tuscany and the countryside of Italy. We had a lunch and wine tasting in a little barn and it was awesome. We're gonna go back and rent a villa one year right mom...? hahaha. Overall, the trip with them was great, I'm glad they got to come visit me because it was nice to have people from home with me for a bit. I'm also glad I got to show them around and be a tour guide even though my sense of direction got us lost about a hundred times...whoops...ALSO! since they were here for Easter we got to see a the famous celebration for Easter in front of the Duomo. There was a firework kind of set up where a fake dove flies out of the church and hits this contraption that spins around and shoots off fireworks. It was raining and crowded but once the event started, the rain stopped. It was so cool to see since it's something really special to everyone in Florence, I'm glad my mom and aunt got to see it! Anyway, I will be seeing you both again SOON! :) :) So glad you both came to visit me :)

[ehcumpari]

AH

I keep losing track of this bad boy, I am in the process of writing about this past month with my mom visiting, my trip to cinque terre, lake como, switzerland and croatia oh and the epic fail of a soccer game....STAY TOOOOONED :)

[ehcumpari]

Hey didn't your mother come visit you??

Hahah I'm getting there mom!

[ehcumpari]

We went to Le Hinch on one of the days which is an awesome beach, people surf there and swim there obviously when it's warmer, however that did not stop an old man divert from his tour group to go swimming in the ocean in his banana hammock, definitely not a sight for sore eyes. The beach was beautiful though and it had the smoothest rocks I think I've ever touched.

We also went to the CLIFFS OF MOHER WHICH EVERYONE MUST SEE. I literally can't even put into words how amazing they are. If you look up breathtaking in the dictionary, you'll see the Cliffs. They're about 400 feet above the Atlantic ocean and when you look down it's probably one of the scariest most exhilarating feelings ever. It gives you knots in your stomach just thinking about how far down it is, you can't even look down without feeling like you're already falling. But they were hands down the coolest thing in nature that I have ever seen. 

[ehcumpari]

This deserves a post of its own because it was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We went to a town called Ennistimon which is a typical town you would think of in Ireland, the colors, the rustic look and the feel and everything. When we got there, Nicole and I saw this golden retriever type dog on a corner, gave him the typical "AWWW OMG LOOK A DOG OMG SO CUTE" pet him and thought that would be it. But nope, he decided to take us down to this waterfall and this field of donkeys and no, I'm not kidding. He was literally our tour guide. When we left the waterfall he took us around town and if Nicole and I ever stopped, he would stop too and wait for us. He walked and stayed with us without a leash and was probably the most well behaved dog I have ever met. When we left him it was SO SAD, I shed some tears. It felt like an ending to the saddest movie ever because we drove away in the car and saw him sitting on the corner through the rearview mirror. Depressed yet? Because I am, we should have taken him home 

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Our first stop in Ireland was Dublin which was a lot more modern than I thought it would be. We wandered around most of the time and saw some really cool things. Dublin was probably my favorite city in Ireland and we had an awesome weather that day. We went into a pub on Temple Bar and I had my first Guinness (appropriate) and I actually didn't hate it. It could stand as a meal by itself it's so thick but I did like it! We also spent the day in Galway one of the days and Limerick. Galway was super medieval feeling, it was what you would picture Ireland to be and Limerick is similar but definitely a lot smaller than the other towns. All of the cities in Ireland seemed similar but they all had something different which was really cool. 

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We hit all the touristy hot spots like Big Ben, London Eye, Tower Bridge, Parliament Westminister Abbey and all that jazz. We got to see most of the things during the day and at night which was awesome because when it's all lit up at night it's unreal. We also went to Camden Markets which looks nothing like Kensington and more like New York City. It was a super trendy area with shops and stores everywhere, I could have easily blown all my money there. London was so different from Florence, it was also nice to hear English everywhere and not have to worry about reading signs and listening to people talk and have absolutely no idea what they were saying. 

When I was leaving London, my flight was at 6:30 am and of course, that day the clocks went ahead an hour so I almost missed my flight. Also, Dana and I are probably the WORST people to travel together because we are horrible with directions, never know where we're going and are overall pretty clumsy. We ran around London looking for ATMS, busses and taxis that night to take me to the airport but luckily, I made the flight. Totally worth it.